No agreement between Tigers and Tarik Skubal (yet) ahead of arbitration

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Jan 8, 2026

Published in Baseball

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DETROIT — The Tigers reached contract settlements on Thursday with seven of the eight remaining arbitration-eligible players.

They did not, however, reach an agreement with two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.

That doesn't mean Skubal and the Tigers are definitely going to arbitration, though. The Tigers under president Scott Harris have been a file-and-trial team, meaning they typically don't negotiate leading up to the hearings.

They made an exception last year to clarify a $25,000 discrepancy with pitcher Casey Mize. And it is expected they will make another exception and continue negotiating with Skubal, though on a much higher scale.

Both sides posted their salary requests to the league Thursday night. The Tigers submitted $19 million. Skubal, through his agent Scott Boras, submitted $32 million. It is the biggest spread in the history of the arbitration process. The two sides can continue to negotiate up until the hearing.

Skubal, going into his final year of team control, made $10 million last season. And after two straight Cy Young seasons, he was expected to at least double that this offseason. In fact, he was projected to earn the highest arbitration raise ever received by a pitcher.

As ESPN insider Jeff Passan pointed out, Skubal, if his case goes to arbitration, which is a comparison-based assessment by a three-person panel, would almost certainly top Jacob deGrom's $9.6 million raise in 2019 (to $17 million) and David Price's record high $19.75 million award in 2015.

The highest arbitration salary ever awarded was $31 million to Juan Soto in 2023.

So, clearly, there is some work to be done. The Tigers likely bid lower than they expect to pay and Boras bid higher than he might expect to get. For that reason, it's hard to imagine either side wants to leave this in the hands of an arbitration panel — which awards one side's bid or the other. It doesn't work out compromises.

Each side will have to convince the panel that Skubal's value is $1 higher or lower than the midpoint between the two bids ($25.5 million).

The Tigers did lock up the rest of their arbitration-eligible class, reaching one-year deals with:

— Starting pitcher Casey Mize ($6.15 million)

— Outfielder Riley Greene ($5 million)

— Utility player Zach McKinstry ($4.2 million)

— First baseman Spencer Torkelson ($4.075 million)

— Reliever Will Vest ($3.95 million)

— Outfielder Kerry Carpenter ($3.275 million)

— Reliever Tyler Holton ($1.575 million)

Last month, the Tigers avoided arbitration with outfielder Matt Vierling ($3.255 million), catcher Jake Rogers ($3.05 million) and reliever Beau Brieske ($1.157 million).